November 25, 2009

Sox sign Andruw Jones [UPDATE]

The Chicago White Sox have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with outfielder Andruw Jones, a 10-time Gold Glove Award winner and five-time All-Star. Under terms of the deal, Jones will receive a base salary of $500,000 in 2010 and up to an additional $1 million in performance bonuses. … “This is an opportunity to add a power bat to the roster while improving our outfield depth,” said Ken Williams, White Sox general manager. “With the addition of Andruw, Mark Kotsay and Omar Vizquel, we feel our bench is taking shape to be a strong asset heading into the 2010 season.”

According to White Sox sources, Jones is not being considered as a starting outfielder at this point. With the loss of Scott Podsednik to free agency and Dewayne Wise being released, the team was interested in solidifying its bench. … The White Sox tried to obtain Jones from the Braves five years ago but came up short.

Jones had just a .224 BABIP in 2009. The gut reaction is to say “fluke!” But Andruw’s BABIP since 2005 is .248. His career BABIP is .279.

Why might that be? Well, Jones hits a lot of fly balls. Andruw’s 49.5 FB% in 2009 was 12th-highest among batters with 300 or more PA. While fly balls are obviously beneficial to a slugger like Jones, they do have a lower BABIP than grounders. Also, Andruw pops the ball up frequently. His IF/FB% was 13.3 in 2009. Pop ups are near automatic outs.